Crispy Instant Pot Caramelized Pork Ramen

This crispy Instant Pot caramelized pork ramen is the ultimate comfort food, with tender pieces of melt-in-your-mouth pork, an ultra rich and flavorful broth, ramen noodles and that oh-so-loved ramen egg. Plus it’s incredibly easy to make this restaurant style ramen right at home!

I love that feeling of leaning over that bowl of ramen, letting the steam hit your face (removing your glasses in my case) and slurping those noodles up. In a sophisticated way of course…

Picking up the bowl. Sipping that crazy delicious broth. God am I hungry. Ramen is awesome. It makes you happy.

And I’ll be honest, I will still eat that packaged ramen in a pinch. Tweak the seasoning a bit, add some extras, and you’ve got a quick and easy meal. But today we’re here to learn how to make this super awesome crispy Instant Pot Caramelized Pork Ramen.

And if pork is not your thing, check out this Easy Chicken Ramen recipe from Fox and Briar.

The Instant Pot

Note this is not a sponsored post, this is just how I feel. However, I did include an affiliate link to purchase below if you decide to take the leap!

First guys, I want to tell you about my Instant Pot. I love it. I got it for Christmas (6 quart 9-in-1), and it may just be the best thing that happened to me in 2017. Kidding. There were some other things – my life isn’t THAT boring guys. It’s pretty close though.

I originally wrote this recipe for the slow cooker, but upon receiving my Instant Pot, decided to go that route. I’ve also included slow cooker instructions for those of you that haven’t taken the leap yet.

This thing will saute (perfect setting for searing your meat to keep those juices in), work as a slow cooker OR a pressure cooker (the pressure cooker settings are awesome), a rice cooker, a yogurt maker, a steamer and a sterilizer. Oh, and an egg cooker.

Read my full review of the Instant Pot if you haven’t made the plunge yet. If you’re ready to buy, you can find it on Amazon through the below affiliate link (I earn a small commission if you buy through this link – it helps me buy coffee to keep cooking up new recipes!):

I haven’t thrown out my slow cooker yet though. We’ve had a great relationship for such a long time. Break ups are hard. I’ve even included instructions for using it below if you haven’t made the leap to Instant Pot.

The Ingredients for Instant Pot Pork Ramen

Don’t be intimidated by all the ingredients, it’s not one bit difficult to make this.

I use prepackaged ramen noodles, but you can buy the real deal Japanese noodles at the Asian market (I’ve included the link to both below). I’ve included links to buy the main ingredients below. Note these are affiliate links and I will earn a small commission if you buy through the link. But guys, it helps me pay to keep this site running!!

How to Make Instant Pot Pork Ramen

I like to use the pressure cooker feature on the Instant Pot to make a nice fatty broth you can feel on your lips. After cooking the pork, we remove the fat from it and put it back in the instant pot to pressure cook for another 30 minutes.

Now you can certainly skip this step if you’re in a time crunch, but the extra fat in the broth really adds a nice depth of flavor to the soup. I love it.

The more fat the better, right? The feeling of it on your lips is just heaven.

Screw that New Year’s resolution.

And speaking of fat, let’s talk pork belly. I made this oh-so-tender-and-delicious braised pork belly that is just PERFECT in this ramen. Learn how to make it here. Again, this is not a necessity, but let me tell you, you’re going to want it!

And don’t forget the ramen eggs. The best part of the soup. Seriously guys, you’ve got to have these ramen eggs – learn how to make them here. You can also use plain hard boiled or soft boiled eggs in this.

This crispy Instant Pot caramelized pork ramen is so incredibly delicious and I love that I can now have ramen at home whenever I want.

Plus, it’s not $12/bowl.

Step 1: Season the pork and brown it right in the Instant Pot, about 6 minutes per side. Searing it on the outside helps to keep the juices in.

Step 2: Add the chicken broth, water, sake and dashi powder. Use the pressure cooker setting (high) to cook for 40 minutes. This is probably the best time to make your eggs if you haven’t already made ramen eggs in advance. Use the quick release to release the pressure.

Step 3: Remove the pork from the broth and break into pieces on a baking sheet. Sprinkle the brown sugar and dark soy sauce on the pork pieces, mix well and broil until pork is caramelized (5-10 minutes), being careful not to let the sugar burn. The goal here is to try to not eat all the pork while you finish the broth.

Step 4 (optional): Place all fat from pork back in the Instant Pot and use the pressure cooker setting (high) to cook for another 30 minutes. Use the quick release to release the pressure. Remove any remaining fat pieces and discard. Like I said earlier, this step is optional if you are in a hurry, but it really help get that delicious fattiness we all love in ramen broth.

The Slow Cooker Option

Now I know not everyone has made the leap to the Instant Pot yet, so I’ve also included instructions in the recipe card for using a slow cooker. The steps are somewhat similar, but the slow cooker takes so much looonger. But it works.

Don’t get me wrong, I LOVE my slow cooker. But you know how new love is – I’ll be obsessed with this Instant Pot for while ;-)

Instant Pot Instructions:

Add the chicken broth, water, sake and dashi powder. Use the pressure cooker setting (high) to cook for 40 minutes. Use the quick release to release the pressure.

Remove the pork from the broth and break into pieces on a baking sheet.

OPTIONAL: Place all fat from pork back in the Instant Pot and use the pressure cooker setting (high) to cook for another 30 minutes. Use the quick release to release the pressure. Remove any remaining fat pieces.

Sprinkle the brown sugar and dark soy sauce on the pork pieces, mix well and broil until pork is caramelized (5-10 minutes), being careful not to let the sugar burn.

Add the fish sauce, soy sauce, black pepper, chili garlic paste, and rice wine vinegar to the broth. Set the Instant Pot to the saute setting and bring to a simmer for 5 minutes.

While the broth simmers, cook the dried ramen noodles in boiling water for 3 minutes. Drain.

Reader Interactions

Comments

Don’t broil the pork!! This was sooo very good, except for the dry pork. The pork was DELICIOUS before broiling it, and I had a hard time not snitching bits of it while I finished the ramen. After it was broiled, though, it lost all it’s tender juiciness. I know it’s described as crispy, but I didn’t know how much I would dislike it as crispy. Other than ruining the decadent pork, we really enjoyed the flavor of this. Only difference I made was adding a piece of kombu and some bonito flakes inside a tea strainer (the ingredients in dashi) to the instant pot, instead of the dashi powder.

Hi. I just made this! The broth was great, a little spicy and had good flavor. The pork was amazing! As you mentioned, you do have to be super careful and attentive when broiling, it can burn just like that! But it was sweet and savory and everyone in my house loved it. It has already pretty much disappeared from the pan! Thank you so much for this recipe! And the ramen eggs, SO ON POINT! Yum!

Hi Sarah! I don’t cook them in the broth because if there are leftovers, I don’t like the noodles to get too soggy. If you’re planning to eat it all, or don’t mind soggy noodles, you can definitely cook them right in the broth!

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Hi there. I’m Danielle and I love food. Here you’ll find easy-to-make recipes using ingredients from cuisines all around the world. More…

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